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Improving the writing

I realise now that my story and novel writing has mostly been by instinct. Sure I’ve done some workshops along the way. I recall a workshop I took with Cate Kennedy in 2003 and I had an epiphany! Something she said turned my brain, just titled me until I saw it. I was so blown away by her workshop that I wrote poetry about her and my experience. It was bad poetry but still I wrote poetry!

One of the takeaways from that workshop was using the silences. What people don’t say! Who would have thunk it!

I am undertaking a creative writing PhD and this year (year 2) for me is all about improving as a writer. This means reading. It means writing. And on top of that I sought out ways to improve my technique, my skill, my craft…whatever you want to call it.

So I’m taking a Screenwriting course at the University of Canberra. Now as I said I’ve done workshops, read books about writing and even workshops that looked at the film structure and how to analyse your writing. But OH MY GOD! Screenwriting is blowing me away. Truly, I’m sitting there listening to a lecture about premise and the five important things and I jolt in my seat. Issue with latest book that agent rejected. Solved.

As I listened and took notes, I realised where my writing worked well for me was where I had a premise. Dragon wine for instance has a premise: How low can humans go and are they worth saving. That’s not quite worded exactly like a premise but for me it’s a guiding moral for the story. To be a premise it would need to be. No matter how low humankind sinks, it is still worth saving.

The other big takeaway for me is it’s not the risk of failure but the price of success. Oh wow. I am reborn. In Dragon wine I decided when I planned it that I wasn’t going to be nice to my characters. They were going to risk all for what they want. Unwittingly I stumbled across this.

I’m not saying that Screenwriting is the same as prose writing. It’s not. But the story essentials, such as structure etc are universal. And those techniques can help you refine your writing.